A flat tire, a cooking lesson, and baklava!

All in all a very busy day today. What was to be only a three hour drive was much longer when one of my tour-mates noticed that the tire was nearly flat. A short drive the gas / service station next door and they patched it up (not very well because it was flat again by the time we got to Selçuk.

Before we got to Selçuk, our tour guide asked us if we wanted to have lunch with a local woman who gives a cooking demonstration and then serves lunch. Given that the best meals we have had so far have been at people homes we jumped at the chance to go again.

She had prepared a feast! As well as a demonstration on how to make the now familiar cheese rolled pastry and red lentil balls called Mercimek Kötesi (for my tour mates I agreed to put the recipe below.)

From there we headed into town and had two hours of free time. With my free time I headed up to the Virgin Mary's Home where she died which is now a little chapel. It was pretty and was an extremely well timed visit between the very large caravans of tour buses dumping tourists by the hundreds at the site.

We then headed to Sirince it literally means cute. It's an old Greek village and when this land was taken back during Turkey's independence, Greek people returned to Greece and Turkish people (in Greece) came to Turkey. Kinda a forced migration. They have kept the town looking a bit like Greece but it's basically shopping now. I bought a pomegranate juice... EEP! It was sour! (but also delicious!)

We then headed out for a city walk though the Saturday market and had a Turkish dinner in town followed by some Baklava. Mete says this is the best place in town!

 

Mercimek Kötesi

1 cup red lentils

1 cup fine bulgur

1 medium onion, diced

1-2 Tbsp olive oil

1-2 Tbsp tomato paste

1-2 tsp black pepper

1-2 tsp cumin

2 tsp salt

1 bunch green onions (only the green parts)

handful of parsley

handful of dill

Put lentils in pot and just cover with water, cook until soft tender. Add in bulgur, cover and let stand.

Heat olive oil in skillet and add onions. Sauté until translucent, add in tomato paste.

In a large bowl combine lentils and onions. Mix in remaining ingredient and mush with hands to made oblong shaped rolls of awesomeness. Enjoy.

 

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